News & Views

In the halls of Vinexpo Bordeaux, came the opportunity to acquaint myself with the wines of Georgia, and some of its ancient winemaking techniques

It is well established the when it comes to wine, people like to drink what they like. And they should – I’m a firm believer in this. But occasionally comes the opportunity to taste something a little different, to discover something which might intrigue or even delight as part of one’s wine exploratory journey.

This time around, Vinexpo offered the opportunity to try wines not easily available on many retail shelves, certainly in my part of the world. I tried the wines of Croatia, and then wandered across to the Wines of Georgia pavilion. Just to explore. What were their grapes like? Was amber or orange wine made in qvevris a new age trend or a something which showed ancient cultures knew what they were doing when it came to all things viniferous? (I’d pick the latter option).

I had earlier tasted wines made from Saperavi, the popular red wine grape during a visit to Cité du Vin in Bordeaux. Saperavi makes wine of firm structure and tannins, delicious, strong and food-friendly too. I wanted to learn a bit more, as I did from the ad-lib video I made (below) from my visit.

So if you haven’t yet tasted any Georgia wines, do so when you get the chance. They are extremely food friendly and flavourful. Those ancients knew a thing or two, I’d say!

Here are a few notes in brief on the wines of Georgia:

Georgia claims to have the world’s largest number of indigenous grape varieties – nearly 500.

Kakheti is Georgia’s largest and most historic wine-producing region, producing nearly 70% of all Georgian wine.

Georgia still takes pride in following an ancient wine-making technique – that of ageing their wines in qvevris (a kind of amphora, to put it simply), a round earthenware pot they bury in the ground. This technique, which has been used to make their wine for 8000 years, allows the wine to develop, right from fermentation to maturation in the qvevri, which gives the nutrient-enriched wine a bright golden-orange colour.

Georgia is also famous for its semi-sweet wines made from heritage grapes including Kindzmarauli (juicy semi-sweet red)and Khvanchkara (aromatic semi-sweet red).

It might seem strange that Croatia, a country with centuries-old traditions of winemaking, (wine was introduced by the ancient Greeks, I am told), is only now finally finding itself on the wine lists of connoisseurs and top restaurants, and indeed, on the winning side at international award shows like the Decanter Wine Awards.

One reason could possibly be that the names of their indigenous grapes are so hard to pronounce – lots of consonants, few vowels and some very nifty- looking accents. The other reason is that the grapes don’t sound familiar. No Cabernets or Sauvignons on the list.

But at the Wines of Croatia stall at Vinexpo 2017, I learned about and tasted two white grapes. Both hard to pronounce at first, but interesting, dry and unusual on the palate. One was the medium-bodied Graševina (pronounced gra-shay-vina), which as Joseph at the counter said, makes up 25% of grapes grown in Croatia and is their most popular white. The second was Pošip, more full-bodied and aromatic, with notes of crisp citrus and apple, from the region.

The Institute of the Masters of Wine Riesling master class at Vinexpo 2017

One of the instructional highlights of Vinexpo 2017 was the Greatest Rieslings from Around the World master class presented by the Institute of the Institute of the Masters of Wine on 20 June 2017, first session of Riesling Day at Vinexpo.

Guillaume Deglise, CEO Vinexpo, introduces the panel of MWs at the Vinexpo masterclass on Riesling Day

In terms of sheer accumulated knowledge and experience the six MWs on the dais were hard to beat. They included some eminent names: Gerard Basset MW (with more letters after his name than the Oxford dictionary), Justin Howard-Sneyd MW, Roman Horvath MW, Markus del Monego MW and Mathew Deller MW, moderated by Debra Meiburg MW. Each had picked the bests Rieslings from a single country of their choice: Austria, Alsace, Germany, North America, Australia.

Riesling, said Meiburg, was the “wine grape that wine lovers revere but the market knows little about,” echoing common perception: Riesling was a conoisseur’s delight with few takers commercially.

The class was broken into 3 sections for tasting: the Dry Flight, the Open Flight, and the Off-dry to Sweet Flight.

A few of the memorable Rieslings introduced during the Vinexpo master class

Brundlmayer Zöbinger Heiligenstein Alte Reben Riesling 2015, Austria My favourite, not just because I’ve tasted Willi Brundlmayer’s exceptional wines at his Kamptal winery 2 years ago. This Riesling was from his premium 9 acre holding Zöbinger Heiligenstein, and led the MWs to comment on the similarities between German and Austrian Riesling. In Austria, Riesling comes in as #2 in popularity after Gruner Veltliner. Al 13.5%, RS 4.9g/L. (more…)

‘Vines are like thermometers’

Vinexpo 2017 in Bordeaux opened with a dramatically headlined panel discussion on Day 1 entitled Fire and Rain on the hot-button issue of climate change. Spain’s Miguel A Torres president of Bodegas Torres, Harvard physicist, climate change expert and advisor to Barack Obama, Professor John P. Holdren, Italy’s Gaia Gaja, co-owner of Gaja Winery, and Kathryn Hall, former U.S. Ambassador and proprietor of Napa Valley’s Hall Vineyards weighed in on the discussion moderated by Wine Spectator’s senior editor Dana Nigro.

“Small changes can cause great havoc,” said Christophe Navarre, president of Vinexpo, introducing the session. Undoubtedly at the back of everyone’s mind was U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement about withdrawing from the Paris Accord.

Already of concern to the world at large, the wine industry has been experiencing the backlash from changes in temperature across wine producing regions around the globe. “We have seen climate change and its fallout for 200 years now,” said Holdren, “We’ve known for decades that it must be addressed; human acts are causing this.” The changes will get worse, he added: the frequency and range of heat waves are increasing at a scary pace; productivity is affected; there is increase in pollutants, the number and intensity of storms, floods and droughts: catastrophic impact everywhere. “Higher than average temperatures, torrential downpours which damage crops and cause devastation, a great increase in pests and pathogens, more carbon dioxide released through deforestation and burning of fossil fuels. And geographical boundaries will be altered.”

The newest biannual edition of Vinexpo, arguably the world’s most important and influential wine business fair, took place in the midst of a heat wave which left all of France gasping for breath. At the venue, winemakers and producers at stands were complaining that their wines were close to being cooked, and there was a rising swell of voices to shift the dates for Bordeaux to earlier in the year to avoid another heat wave, perhaps to coincide with Bordeaux en primeur week in April…. sounds like an idea worth considering.

But nonetheless, this Vinexpo saw 2300 exhibitors and over 50,000 attendees (rumour has it 150,000 glasses were ordered from Riedel for this year) all there to connect, meet and take the business of wine forward. There were big wine (and spirits) companies from across the globe, small producers, family-owned enterprises and more, all under that giant roof at the Parc des Expositions, Bordeaux. There was also an exciting array of master classes (noteworthy being the world Riesling master class by the Institute of the Masters of Wine), tastings and exposure to a whole slew of wines and spirits. This was the time for launches, announcements and more from the world of wine.

Some highlights:

WOW! (World or Organic Wines) was given centrestage and received plenty of attention, confirming the world’s growing interest in organic and biodynamic wines. “Its success exceeded our hopes,” said Guillaume Deglise, CEO ofVinexpo Group in a post-event briefing.

Spain was the country of honour, with a huge presence and party all to itself, where tapas-style food was created and served to guests. The Taste of Spain committee was chaired by culinary stars Ferran Adrià and José André. Stands were predominantly serving the famous Spanish reds, mostly, though one producer confessed he wished he had brought some white, considering the heat. I was happy to find a txakoli producer there, and to sip his fresh, effervescent wine.

It was interesting to see Japan making a splash with its range of 40+ sakés and shochus displayed at a large pavilion. They also held a well-attended master class on the different styles of both. (Report to follow)

Riesling Day was celebrated on June 20, focusing on this international grape variety in all its different expressions and terroirs, led from the front by Wines of Germany.(Report to follow)

Wine media made its presence felt, with sessions (tastings, talks and conferences) supported by Bettane + Desseauve, Wine Spectator,Terre de vins, The Drinks Business or the Revue du Vin de France.

There were more than a few conferences which addressed vital issues and made for fascinating listening – the challenge of Brexit and the problem of climate change were two such. (Reports to follow)

If there was any doubt that wine is a business biggie, note this – buyers came in to Bordeaux from 150 countries! While Vinexpo Bordeaux remains the premier show, there is also to be a Vinexpo New York in March 2018, targeting the US.“My best Vinexpo for ten years,” said Jean-Frederic Hugel of Hugel & Fils, Alsace.

Despite the heat and the blisters on my feet, it must be said this is true.

More reports on important sessions, interviews and more on Vinexpo 2017 to be posted here soon. Stay tuned….

India’s first ever major wine awards were held in an atmosphere of celebration and revelry in Mumbai. Read on to find out who won…

So, India’s first major wine awards were held on 22 April 2017 in Mumbai at the Sofitel Mumbai BKC. The endeavor was headlined by Sonal Holland MW, taking a step forward from her creation of India’s first consumer survey on wine, the Indian Wine Insider 2017, along with the very experienced Subhash Arora of the Indian Wine Academy and delWine, and food writer and critic Sourish Bhattacharya. The awards were also aimed to bring focus on India’s burgeoning young wine industry and celebrate its achievements. Not just Indian wines made in India, but also wines brought into India – imported – for consumers to taste and buy.

Sula collects the award for Best Indian Sparkling wine. Winemaker Ajoy Shaw and Rajeev Samant of Sula with Rahul Akerkar and Sonal Holland

I was in Mumbai and made it a point to stop by to feel the energy of the evening, to connect with wine industry pros and friends old and new. I’m glad I did.

For one thing, here was a congregation of people with one thing in common: wine. Most of them wine professionals, winemakers, producers, importers and wine media. There were also restaurateurs, food critics and food-and-wine lovers. For the wine industry to grow and flourish, the protagonists need to meet, exchange notes and back slap occasionally. This platform created such an environment. In Holland’s words: “Here we recognise, reward and celebrate the best of the best Indian and International wines available in India.”

The second purpose was to acknowledge and appreciate the progress made by the still-young wine industry in India over the years. Make no mistake, progress has definitely been made, and rapidly. However, an event of this scale has never been held before, even though they are very frequent in developed wine countries. I hope, going forward, more wine folk in India will make an effort to come together and applaud one another’s efforts. In that direction greater success (and growth) lies.

Grover Zampa Vineyards picks up a slew of awards. Kapil and Karishma Grover receive their plaque and certificate from Rahul Akerkar for Chene 2014: Best Indian Super premium wine

Of course, the whirlwind nature of the evening didn’t leave a lot of time for feedback and analysis for me, though I did take mental notes. But what was clear was that a major step forward has been taken by the people best qualified to do so.

Cheers to the troika of Sonal, Subhash and Sourish and their amazing team. A hat tip to Biswajit Chakraborty and his people at Sofitel Mumbai BKC. And to all the industry people there, winners and otherwise – here’s to a great job done. And all the very best for the future.